Used by permissionThe banner on the “Miracle Michele” blog sums up the family’s faith in Michele O’Donnell’s recovery. It says, “Learning to Live Life Day by Day for with God nothing is impossible,” and has these words separately, “God, Family, Friends, Faith and Love.”

Michele O’Donnell, is coming home tomorrow at 1 p.m.! The Superior resident and mother of four will be greeted by family, friends and supporters in a “grand celebration” complete with balloons and fireworks at her Alma Lane home. What a joyous time!

“Miracle Michele,” 42, so named on a blog about her recovery, takes this major step back to normal life. Michele has suffered so much since she left home a year ago. She’s undergone multiple surgeries, overcome numerous infections, been in and out of drug-induced comas, and engaged in intense physical therapy sessions.

Michele sustained a serious brain injury, an acute subdural hematoma, in Cancun, Mexico, on Jan. 27, 2010, when she fell in the bathroom on vacation. She was rushed into emergency surgery and spent the next month in intensive care in Mexico. The next leg of her trip home took her to Miami where she endured another hematoma, several surgeries and infections. After she was stable enough to make the trip to Colorado, she underwent yet another surgery that replaced part of her skull that was removed and discarded in Miami. Two weeks in intensive care was followed by 5 months in an acute care hospital and 2 months in a skilled nursing facility. Now, she’s heading home after completing over 50 days of intense physical, occupational and speech therapy at a center that specializes in rehabilitation for patients with brain injuries.

I am quite impressed with this family for their faith in God, and their love and support for Michele. Though I’ve not met them yet, I feel their strength. I feel Michele’s strength, her fighting spirit, her will to overcome this obstacle, to live her best life possible.

I also feel the O’Donnell family’s need. A family doesn’t go through such a challenge without a financial toll. In fact the family’s home was foreclosed on in December. They are still living in it, and even renovating it to meet their new needs, but they could use lots of helping hands as well as continued prayers.

If you’d like to help, you have several options. Donations to the O’Donnell Family Fund can be delivered or brought in to: 1stBank, 500 S. McCaslin Blvd., Louisville, CO 80027, to Account No. 868-290-1625. Donations can also be made via PayPal on the blog, miraclemichele.blogspot.com. Cards, letters and gifts can be sent to Miracle Michele, 1856 Alma Lane, Superior, CO 80027. Prayers, of course, can be offered anywhere.